Just read an article reprinted from 1919 in which it says that the Belgian government intended to preserve the area within the walls of Ypres in its war-damaged condition as a permanent memorial. Clearly, that idea was abandoned at some point and the town was rebuilt with reparations paid by Germany. The same applies to Dixmude, apparently.
Anyone know why the idea was abandoned?
[The article also claims that the word diaper (that has fallen into disuse in UK but still used in USA) comes from cloth d'Ypres, although the claim is disputed elsewhere]
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I've found another reference that says the idea of preserving the ruins of Ypres was Winston Churchill's, but the Belgian govt objected. It sounds like one of Winston's; he was always having ideas that, like landships, were sweeping in concept and light on detail. One of his aides said Churchill used to have 100 ideas a day, 99 of which were rubbish, and his job was to distinguish the good one.
(A bit off-topic)
Sadly, the d'Ypres theory turns out not to be true.
The word diaper originally referred to the type of cloth rather than its use ; "diaper" was the term for a pattern of small repeated geometric shapes, and later came to describe a white cotton or linen fabric with this pattern. The first cloth diapers consisted of a special type of soft tissue sheet, cut into geometric shapes. This type of pattern was called diapering and eventually gave its name to the cloth used to make diapers and then to the diaper itself. This usage stuck in the USA and Canada, but in Britain the word "nappy" took its place. According to Mrs Charles H. Ashdown, in her book 'British Costume from Earliest Times to 1820', diaper cloth originated from Ipre in Flanders and was called D'Ipre; however this seems unlikely in light of the history given above, and the fact that the most probable original pronunciation of diaper was with the a distinctly pronounced, as indeed some people still pronounce it today.
A "diaper" is also a pattern in brickwork, which lends weight to the first explanation. But de Nimes is correct, and milliner, an old term for a hat-maker, comes from Milan, which used to produce brightly-coloured ribbons and suchlike. My home city was the centre of the world cotton trade in the 19th century, and I'm told that in Romania or somewhere the word for trousers is still manchesteraki.
Coming soon: why all Russian railway stations are called Vauxhall . . .
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"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
It must be an urban myth. If you google manchesteraki you only get 4 results - and this is one of them. I have clearly been misled.
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"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
James H wrote:My home city was the centre of the world cotton trade in the 19th century, and I'm told that in Romania or somewhere the word for trousers is still manchesteraki.
Hi James, a bit the same in Dutch, a "mansjester broek"...as Manchester trousers were called till the 60's I think, you don't hear that any more.
Hi, do we all know that the Russians initially called Tanks, Ricardos? If we all don't, it was because the most prominant name on the tank with it being on the engine.
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ChrisG
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